What £50 gets you at Cheshire's '£50 farm shop' with queues 'like Alton Towers'

It's the oldest, biggest and most talked about farm shop in Cheshire - but if you're willing to queue what exactly can you get for £50?

It's the Cheshire farm shop known as the "Daylesford of the North", with queues so big at weekends that it's been likened to Alton Towers. Yes, I'm at The Hollies - the county's oldest, biggest and most talked about farm shop.

It's become uber-famous in recent times, thanks to reality star Molly-Mae Hague being a bit of a fan, and a regular visitor here with adorable daughter Bambi. But long before Molly-Mae sent it into the social media stratosphere, The Hollies was already famous in Cheshire thanks to its dizzying array of fresh, local produce and assorted posh wares on its heaving shelves.

So much so it has long been known as the "£50 farm shop" - because as regulars here know, even if you think you're just "popping in" you can't seem to help spending £50. Nowadays, if you get away with just £50 you're winning - as there's lots and lots to distract you into parting your cash here.

For the original Hollies, in Little Budworth, is no longer "just" a farm shop, reports the MEN. As well as the main food hall, you've got a massive extension at the back that's currently filled with a treasure trove of Christmas decorations, while there's also a "Christmas House" at the front, as well as the gifts and interiors shop "The Barn".

It has a cafe here too - but bosses had to close it "until further notice" at weekends in October due to just how busy it was getting at those peak times. Regulars may curse the "Molly Mae effect" for the crowds, but personally I think it's a great thing that more young people are getting interested in farm fresh produce and supporting a local business like this.

My main advice if you're heading here is to try and go on a weekday instead - it's still busy but a much more pleasant experience and you can also grab a takeaway drink too.

I managed to negotiate the infamous car park, where people have complained it's "like Alton Towers" due to the queues at weekends, with relative ease on arrival. While it was clearly packed, I got lucky that someone was reversing out near the front just as I arrived.

My mission when I visited here was to see exactly what I could get in the main farm shop for £50. So no distractions from the Christmas decorations shop for me.

I mean, I was not expecting to be getting my full weekly shop here with that £50 budget. But I was still pleasantly surprised with just how many "proper meals" I was able to get in with my money.

The great thing about The Hollies is that it's like a mini (posh) supermarket so you could, in theory, get everything you need. There's a huge butcher's counter, and a veritable bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables at the shop's heart.

There's also a deli counter with fresh meats, cheeses and pies, and a host of locally-produced dairy products and sweet and savoury treats. Then there's all the shelves at the front of the shop stacked high with fresh breads, cakes, croissants and tray bakes, as well as tins of biscuits, chocolates, and a full wine and spirits section too with loads of Christmassy treats at this time of year.

As you will see from what I purchased, I obviously let my head be turned a little too much by all the sweet treats on offer here. Molly-Mae has posted several times about the "old school cake" that they do here, priced at a fairly hefty £6.50.

I was going to give it a try but then saw a giant chocolate malteser traybake instead. Even though this was an eye-watering £7.25 I thought it would be a good idea.

I also got carried away when I saw a cabinet stuffed with fresh "Gorgeous Cheesecakes", especially as there was a lady handing out samples of the eton mess version. That was me swiftly sold on it, and I popped one of those in my basket for £3.99.

Once I'd got home, I wished that I'd just stuck instead with investing my money on the fresh vegetables and meat here. Because they were all the standout products from my shop.

I purchased two steak burgers for £4 that were honestly some of the best burgers I've ever eaten. The sausages and chicken schnitzel too were excellent, and I think fairly priced given the cost of meat in all supermarkets nowadays.

It was the sweet treats I wished I'd not bothered with. I found the malteser traybake just too sweet, while the trifle was not to my taste at all, it seemed quite watery and lacking in flavour.

However the cheesecake was, as its name states, gorgeous. If you can walk past that cake counter without wanting to grab one of those on a visit, then you're a stronger-willed person than me, although I did reflect later that £3.99 for a small circular cheesecake was quite a hefty amount for a single portion.

Overall, I was impressed with the quality of the produce on offer, and the amount of food I was able to get with my £50. In future I'll keep my blinkers on when it comes to sweet stuff though, and focus instead on the excellent meat and veg.

Be warned though at this time of the year it WILL be busy, and you may need to queue for the car park and for the tills too.

Here's the full breakdown of what I purchased.

The £50 basket in full

Tenderstem broccoli £3.50

Strawberries £3.99

Sausages (6 pack) £3.24

Chocolate buttons £4.99

Chicken schnitzels (2 pack) £5.25

Beef burgers (2 pack) £4

Dauphinoise potatoes £4.75

Soft white rolls (4 pack) £1.99

Eton Mess cheesecake £3.99

Malteser crunch £7.25

Cherry scone (3 pack) £3.15

Cottage cheese £1.65

Strawberry trifle £2.99